


Phase Two

by Metonic_Cycle



Category: Archie Sonic Online, Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Humor, Attempt at Humor, Canon Gets Thrown Out the Window, Continuity What Continuity, Dimension Travel, Eventual Romance, Humor, M/M, More Characters will be Added soon, Multiverse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parallel Universes, Post-Genesis Wave, Pre-Genesis Wave, Science Fiction, Shardonic, Slow To Update, metonic, on temporary hiatus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27026350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metonic_Cycle/pseuds/Metonic_Cycle
Summary: Previous work in this timeline:ProgramComputers illuminated the what would otherwise be pitch black room, washing over the currently seated Dr. Eggman as he stared at one of the many screens in front of him. A beep emanated from one of the speakers installed in the console below, indicating an incoming transmission. He answered it."Ah, Phage!" Eggman greeted, a pleased smile now spreading across his lips. "I was wondering when I'd hear from you again. How did the mission go?""PHASE ONE WAS A SUCCESS, MASTER,"Phage answered, sounding quite pleased with itself."THEY DO NOT SUSPECT A THING. SOON ENOUGH, WE WILL BE ABLE TO INITIATE PHASE TWO.""Excellent!" Eggman's smile widened. "Those Freedom Fighters won't know what hit them until it's too late.""THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE, MASTER. AN ANOMALY I ENCOUNTERED DURING PHASE ONE,"Phage explained."AN ANOMALY I BELIEVE WE MAY BE ABLE TO EXPLOIT."Eggman leaned closer to the monitor, his interest peaked. "I'm listening..."
Relationships: Shard the Metal Sonic/Sonic the Hedgehog
Kudos: 6





	1. Phage

**Author's Note:**

> To understand what's happening in this fic, you should read the story [Program](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26895145/chapters/65888176) \- which was originally called "Better Off, Part I" for a short time. I know I'm going to screw up canon a lot here even with Mobius Encyclopedia's help, so please save it. 
> 
> Any flames I see, I'll delete on sight. Actual constructive criticism, however, is very much appreciated!!

Within a matter of seconds, Sonic was now outside Uncle Chuck’s workshop, the overheated Shard in tow. The robot was now searing hot, blackening the fur and burning the skin on Sonic’s arms. His eyes were flickering on and off, and errors flashed all across his optical screen. The Power Gem in his chest was now swimming with clouds of green, red, and black. The black clouds of energy- which were slowly consuming the other two colours in the gem- were something Sonic had never seen before in a Power Gem, let alone heard of.

“S-Sonic- I’m s-s-sss-sorry…”

And then Shard’s optical screen fell completely black, and his body went limp in Sonic’s arms. Sonic kicked open the door to Chuck’s workshop, startling the older Mobian inside awake (as he was sleeping in his chair again). “Sonic?! Sonic!” Chuck was on his feet in a flash, eyes flicking from Sonic to Shard then back to Sonic again. “What’s going on- what happened to-”

“I- I don’t know, we were just talking, he was gonna leave, and then he started overheating-” Chuck pushed his tools off his worktable, and Sonic carefully set Shard down on it. Chuck then shooed Sonic away from the table to give him room to work. The older Mobian turned Shard over on his side and opened a panel in the back of his head. He then plugged a cord connected to his computer into the now-exposed outlet. Chuck made his way over to the computer and started opening up files.

“Hmmm…” Chuck tapped his chin thoughtfully as he examined the information being displayed. “It looks like his neural net’s crashed due to a massive data overload. I’m not sure exactly how much damage has been caused… hmmm, that’s… _strange_. It looks like there’s another program in here- and it’s still running. I think we should take him to the Freedom Fighter HQ, though. Have Nicole take a look at him, and see if she can help us figure out what it is.”

Sonic nodded, eyes closed. He took a deep breath and straightened up his stance. He had to stay strong. He had to. He opened his eyes and looked at the mech lying lifelessly on the table.

“Alright. Let’s get moving!”

* * *

_Meanwhile… location: Ư̶̝Ń̷̯Ą̴̓V̷͔̈́A̷͉̎I̷͖͊L̴̡̈́A̷̢̒B̸͔͗L̴͑͜E̶͔͒-_

Shard pointed his arm-mounted cannon at the swirling black mass with tentacles that sat in front of him and fired again. “Just _die_ already, sheesh!!”

 **“NO!!!”** The mass roared, swinging one of its tentacles down to crush him. Shard rocketed out of the way just in time. The tentacle smashed down into the floor, sending chunks of the digitised stone flying through the air and glitching out of existence. **“I CANNOT BE DESTROYED. I _WILL_ NOT BE DESTROYED. YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND…” **The monster snickered evilly, revealing the snaggled mess of yellowish brown teeth underneath.

“Yikes- talk about flushing hygiene down the drain,” Shard remarked, red pupils locked onto the creature’s teeth. “You leave your toothbrush at home or something??” The mass snarled in anger at the quips and tried to snatch him up into its jaws. Shard dashed to the side a second time, just barely managing to avoid being chomped up and possibly erased. “Some example you’re setting for your fellow viruses,” the bot added, dodging yet another tentacle. “I mean, seriously- how do you _not_ have cavities??” He fired another laser at the giant obsidian mass, and while it did deal some damage, it did very little to deter the monster’s rampage. The damaged black mass was quickly regenerated in an instant, only solidifying just how powerful this thing really was.

 ** _“SILENCE!!!”_** The virus roared. A dark purple glow surrounded it, humming with energy, and a strange cat-like mask appeared on the top of the mass- presumably its face. The creature lowered its masked “face” to look down at Shard, growling. **“I AM PHAGE, THE MOST POWERFUL VIRUS KNOWN TO MOBIAN-KIND. I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH DISRESPECT. SURRENDER NOW, AND PERHAPS I WILL MAKE YOUR DEATH _SOMEWHAT_ PAINLESS…”**

“Oooo, I'm _so_ scared- _not!_ You’re gonna have to do better than that, kitty cat,” Shard shot back, calculating his next move. His lasers were ineffective against this creature and he had the feeling that any attacks against it involving physical contact might result in his code being erased, if the damaged floor was anything to go by. And then it would be game over for him. Kaput. Dead.

Permanently.

But he wasn’t going to give up just yet. Shard was getting out of here, and this so-called Phage wasn’t going to stop him. “What, you just gonna leave me hangin’?” He smirked, lowering himself into a crouch, ready to spring. “Come on, kitty- let’s see if you can really live up to your title!”

 **“VERY WELL THEN,”** Phage hissed. **“PREPARE TO _SUFFER!!”_**

* * *

_Back in the physical world…_

Shard was now lying on one of the tables at Freedom Fighter HQ, still offline. Nicole stood at his side, her eyes closed and her hand resting on his head. Chuck sat in front of one of the nearby computers, reading aloud to himself the lines of code being displayed. Sonic stood at the side of the table across from Nicole, feeling positively useless at the moment.

He was good at taking out bad guys and ruining their evil schemes. He was good at being the fastest thing alive (and even got first place in the Chili Dogathon last week- though Silver getting sick and throwing up part ways through did help a bit). Send in Sonic to destroy one of Eggman’s bases? Done. Have Sonic go super and distract an evil demigod possessing the body of his knucklehead friend? Done.

But this?

Sonic knew very little about computers. And what little he did know was practically _nothing_ compared to what his uncle and Nicole knew. Ergo, he was useless. Sighing quietly, he picked up Shard’s hand. It just felt so cold… and _dead_. And somehow the hedgehog had the distinct feeling that it was he himself who was to blame.

“Shard…”

He had lost so many friends already. How many more did he have to lose before the universe could be satisfied? How much more pain did he and the people around him have to endure before they could finally have peace? Even though they’ve only been here a few minutes at most, the passage of time seemed to have slowed to hours.

“It’s a virus,” Nicole finally said, opening her eyes and removing her hand from Shard’s head.

“My thoughts exactly,” Chuck added.

“A virus??” Sonic looked back and forth between them expectantly. _“How-_ how is that even possible?!?”

“I don’t know, okay?! What I do know is that we have to get in there and either drive it out or destroy it before there’s nothing left of Shard to even save!” Nicole explained, looking at Sonic. She then turned her gaze back to Chuck. “I’ll enter his mindspace. Can you keep an eye on things from here?”

“Yes I can,” Chuck replied. “I’ll let you know if the program becomes any more unstable.”

“I’m going with you,” Sonic told Nicole. “I’m not gonna be much help out here, and if I can help kick this virus’ butt, you can count me in!” Nicole merely nodded, already walking towards the Digitizer (a.k.a. the Particle-to-Light Organizer and Transporter Device). Sonic followed after her, silently hoping to himself that they could get there in time.

_Hang in there, Shard. We’re coming._

* * *

_Location: Ư̶̝Ń̷̯Ą̴̓V̷͔̈́A̷͉̎I̷͖͊L̴̡̈́A̷̢̒B̸͔͗L̴͑͜E̶͔͒-Ę̶̡̞̗͈̪͇͊̑̕R̸͇̞̱̰̩̙͎͚̰̉͛͐̐̈́̐̊̌͝Ȑ̵͍͎̅̒͒̈́̀͐̉O̵̫̼̗̍͜R̶̦̝̯͍̉ͅ ̴̢̢͈̼̣͚̭͗̆̈̽̍̾̍̕ͅͅŅ̷͚̳͇̣̤̗̎̒̃Ǔ̶͉̬̫̖͇̔M̵̡̛͇̟̻̙̩̜̞̄̌̕ͅḂ̷̧̻̙̱̞͛̄E̷̡̠̭̭͈͈̥̝͌́̑̎͋̓̄̐͝Ŗ̸̳̬̣̒ ̶̼̤̻̓̍̇2̵̉̄̅̍̋̈̓́͒͜9̷͍̥̲̦̜͓̃̃̊̍͂3̸̦̉̄͌̆̕8̵͔̥̫̽͗͗̑̈́͘8̶̱̥͔̜̩͈̦̀4̶̨̦̬͇̯̠̬̜̽̅̈́̿͌_

**“SCUM!!!”** Phage shrieked, piercing Shard in the chest with a tentacle. It didn’t destroy him like he initially thought it would- but it didn’t change the fact that it was _painful_. Chunks of his chest flew outward from the impact, and floated mid-air, flickering dangerously before disappearing.

Another hit like that, and Phage really might kill him.

Shard shuddered as the tentacle slid out of his body, and rocketed to the side as the black mass of digitised matter swung down to crush him. He could feel himself growing weaker as the fight went on, and he knew he couldn’t keep going like this.

 **“YOU THINK YOU KNOW _PAIN??”_** Phage hissed. The monster lunged a tentacle forth, intent on spearing the mech a second time. **_“I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT PAIN TRULY IS!!!!”_**

“The only one who’s about be in pain is _you!”_ a familiar voice called from afar.

Phage turned its “head” to look for the source, only for a large chunk of digitised matter to collide with its face. The attacker was none other than Nicole. The holographic lynx reached her hand towards Shard, swirls of green energy speeding towards him. Upon impact, the energy seemed to heal some of the damage that had been done to Shard.

“Th-thanks, Nicole,” Shard told her, before turning his attention back to Phage, who was currently being beaten on by Sonic.

 **“THIS IS _IMPOSSIBLE!!!”_** Phage roared. **“HOW ARE _YOU_ NOT BEING _ERASED?!?”_** Sonic tore through the centre of the monster with a spin-dash, shredding its insides and sending black goo flying everywhere. Nicole flung a series of small green blades at Phage, tearing it apart further. The creature cried out in pain, and then glowered down at Sonic- who had just landed on the floor in front of it.

The Mobian looked up at Phage and smirked. “In case ya didn’t notice, Blobby, I’m not a computer program. Now why don’t you take a hike and leave my friend’s head before you _really_ make us all mad.”

Nicole flew over to where Sonic was, a blade of green energy in each hand. She glared up at Phage, who seemed to be almost dumbfounded by their presence. “We insist.”

Phage growled, still glaring back at them. Finally, the monster said, **“VERY WELL- BUT BE WARNED. THIS IS NOT THE LAST YOU’LL SEE OF ME. I WILL BE BACK, AND I _WILL_ FINISH MY MISSION!!! THIS I SWEAR!!”**

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get moving before we make you.” Sonic crossed his arms and watched as Phage shrunk down into nothing but a black speck, which quickly vanished. _Out of sight, definitely not out of mind,_ the hedgehog thought. _I wonder… it said it would finish its mission…_ Phage left without much of a fight- perhaps it had expended a lot of energy while fighting Shard, but still…

A cold chill ran down Sonic’s spine, and he shivered.

Phage, as it said itself, would be back to complete its objective, whatever that may be. They would have to be ready.

“Dramatic much, am I right or am I right?” Shard asked, drawing Sonic’s attention back to him. The Mobian stared at him for a long moment, not comprehending. Nicole just shook her head at the remark. Shard stared back at Sonic, waiting for a response. When he didn’t get one, he started to ask, “Sonic? Are you oka-” Before he could finish, Sonic had grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. At first, Shard stiffened, having not expected the contact. Then he relaxed after a few seconds, and returned the gesture. “Heh… I- I missed you too, True Blue,” he murmured softly, settling his chin on Sonic’s shoulder. He saw Nicole watching them with a knowing smile and he frowned.

Sonic pulled away after a minute, and looked at Nicole. “I’m guessing we’d better leave?”

Nicole nodded. “Now that the virus seems to be gone, we should be able to bring Shard back online. We should do a sweep of his systems afterwards though, just to make sure that it’s really gone.”

“How’d it even get in me in the first place?” Shard asked.

“We don’t know,” Nicole answered, “but we’re going to find out so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Shard sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. Today had really been a wild rollercoaster of… well, everything. He didn’t know if he’d be able to go into sleep mode at all tonight. The mech lowered his hand and looked at Sonic. “See you on the outside, I guess.”

“Y-yeah. See… see you on the outside.” Sonic scratched his ear nervously, and then turned to follow Nicole.

As Shard watched them go, he couldn’t help but wonder if things were going to keep going downhill from here. Life seemed to be particularly cruel to them all lately. “It’s only going to get worse,” he murmured to himself, his body glitching a bit as he slowly sat down. “It _always_ gets worse.”

* * *

_Meanwhile… location: {REDACTED}_

Computers illuminated the what would otherwise be pitch black room, washing over the currently seated Dr. Eggman as he stared at one of the many screens in front of him. A beep emanated from one of the speakers installed in the console below, indicating an incoming transmission. He answered it.

“Ah, Phage!” Eggman greeted, a pleased smile now spreading across his lips. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you again. How did the mission go?”

 **“PHASE ONE WAS A SUCCESS, MASTER,”** Phage answered, sounding quite pleased with itself. **“THEY DO NOT SUSPECT A THING. SOON ENOUGH, WE WILL BE ABLE TO INITIATE PHASE TWO.”**

“Excellent!” Eggman’s smile widened. “Those Freedom Fighters won’t know what hit them until it’s too late.”

 **“THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE, MASTER. AN ANOMALY I ENCOUNTERED DURING PHASE ONE,”** Phage explained. **“AN ANOMALY I BELIEVE WE MAY BE ABLE TO EXPLOIT.”**

Eggman leaned closer to the monitor, his interest peaked. “I’m listening…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Phage only appears in the Post-Genesis Wave timeline, but I think she's pretty cool. And kinda scary. Mostly cool though.


	2. Wisp

_Several hours later…_

“Well, the good news is, it looks like the virus is completely out of your systems,” Nicole said, turning away from the computer she and Chuck were studying to look at Shard and Sonic. The former was now back online and sitting up on the worktable. He had several cords running from the exposed outlet in his back to the computer, allowing the programs inside him to be analysed via said computer. Sonic was sitting on the worktable next to the mech, legs dangling over the side. “And it looks like your Power Gem is repairing your damaged programs on its own, which is another good thing. The problem is, we haven’t been able figure out where the virus came from.”

“But,” Chuck spoke up, turning around in his chair to look at Shard, “we’ve been able to determine when Shard was infected- which was about a month ago.”

“A month ago…?” Shard echoed. What could he possibly have been doing a month ago that could have gotten him infected?

“Yes,” Nicole confirmed, nodding. “There’s really not a lot more we can do at the moment except keep start coding better defensive programs for you. You guys can head out for now. The new programs probably won’t be ready until tomorrow morning. When you guys come back, we’ll install you with the new defensive programs and try sweeping your systems again for any signs of how the virus might’ve infected you. If that doesn’t work… then we’ll have to talk to _you-know-who_ about this.”

Shard nodded slowly, disconnecting the cords from his back. “Fine… fine. I’ll come back tomorrow morning then, I guess…” He climbed off the worktable, Sonic following after him. Shard looked at Nicole and Chuck for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. But nothing came to mind, so he turned away and headed out the door.

“Is there anything I can do…?” Sonic asked Nicole and Chuck. _I wonder what she meant by ‘you-know-who’…_

“You could keep an eye on him for us in the meantime,” Chuck suggested. “Just in case something else happens.”

“Okay,” Sonic said, nodding. “I can do that. I can do that… is there anything else?”

Nicole shook her head. “Not really. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine…” Sonic sighed tiredly- it was just one thing after another nowadays. They just couldn’t catch a break. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

* * *

Shard sat outside underneath one of the nearby trees, looking up at the night sky. Had they really been in the HQ for _that_ long? Apparently they had.

“This seat taken?” a voice asked. Shard was on his feet in a flash and pointing his arm-mounted cannon at the source. “Whoa, whoa! It’s just me!” Sonic lifted his hands defensively. “It’s just me, okay?”

Shuddering quietly, Shard lowered his cannon. “Sorry… just a little on edge here. It’s not every day you find out you were infected with a virus for a whole month…” He sat back down on the ground and leaned his back against the tree trunk. “Why now? Why’d it choose to attack my systems now, of all times?”

“Not really sure,” Sonic replied, sitting down next to the bot. “It might’ve been programmed to attack in a certain amount of time. Or it might’ve been triggered by something. I don’t know. And I’m pretty sure if Nicole and Uncle Chuck knew, they’d have told us.”

“I just… I don’t even know how I could’ve gotten infected,” Shard told him. “The only thing I can think is that someone must’ve somehow hacked my systems remotely and planted the virus that way, but I don’t see how that’s even possible. I’m not connected to a network or anything. And I couldn’t have gotten it from the Digital World either- it gets sweeped once a week for any ‘surprises’ the Iron Queen might’ve left behind, and I’m pretty sure we’d all know about it if there was anything there that wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Sonic wrapped an arm around Shard’s shoulders. The mech again went rigid for a couple of seconds, then relaxed- and even leaned a little into the touch. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon. And when we do, I’ll personally make sure that the person or persons responsible get their butts handed to them on a silver platter.”

Shard let out a small beep- his equivalent of an amused snort. “They won’t know what hit ‘em.”

“Yup!” Sonic was silent for a moment. “Hey… Shard- can I ask you something?”

“Hate to break it you, but that in itself is a question,” Shard snarked gently. “Ask away, True Blue. But depending on what it is, you might not get an answer. It’s-”

“A secret to everyone- I know, I know.” Sonic chuckled a bit at that. After a short, silent pause, he asked, “You never did tell me why you came over to my house.”

Shard hesitated. “Do I need a reason to visit a friend?”

“You expect me to believe you just came to see me for no reason? C’mon, Shard. I’m not stupid.”

“It’s not important, okay?” Shard told him, starting to pull away. “And I know you’re not stupid. I just… it’s not important.”

Sonic tightened his grip on Shard’s shoulder. “Please talk to me? I just want to help-”

“Maybe I don’t _want_ your help!” Shard whipped his head to glare at Sonic as he pushed the hedgehog’s arm off of him. Upon seeing the hurt look on the Mobian’s face, Shard’s expression instantly softened. “I’m sorry- I shouldn’t- I shouldn’t have said that… I know you just wanna help, Sonic, but… this isn’t something you can help me with. This is something I need to deal with on my own.”

“Why can’t you at least let me try, huh?” Sonic asked, tired frustration creeping into his voice. “I’m tired of being useless, I’m tired of losing friends… I’m tired of all of it. Just… at least tell me why. Please.”

“Because I don’t want to hurt you,” Shard told him. “Not again. And especially not like this.”

Sonic sighed. This was going nowhere. What was it that was troubling the robot so much that he thought it would hurt him? Before he could ask another question, Shard whipped his head up, listening for something. “You hear that?”

“Hear what?” Shard didn’t respond, instead standing up, still listening. He started walking away from Sonic, sensors now on high alert. “Hey, wait a sec!” Sonic was on his feet in a flash and following after the mech. _If this is his way of trying to get out of talking to me about this… talk about real low._ The Mobian decided to keep quiet for now, though, and just continue following Shard. If the former badnik really was sensing something, they’d know soon enough.

It turned out that there really was something after all.

After several minutes of following a cautious Shard, the two hedgehogs came upon a massive, violet-coloured disk. The disk appeared to be suspended in midair, and was spinning slowly. “Whoa…” Sonic stared at it in both awe and concern.

“Looks like some kind of portal…” Shard took a step closer to the unusual phenomenon. “And it’s growing. You can’t really tell because it’s moving to slow for the naked eye to see, but it’s definitely growing.”

Sonic reached a hand out towards the portal, curious- only for his hand to get slapped down by Shard. “Are you insane?? We don’t know where it leads, let alone if we could survive going through it!”

“Would you relax, man?” Sonic glared at him in annoyance. “I’m just-!”

 _“Look out!”_ Shard pushed the hedgehog out of the way as something came through the portal, at the same time raising his cannon at the unidentified creature to fire. And then he lowered his cannon upon seeing what it was. “Oh. It’s just a Wisp…” He looked at Sonic- who was currently getting up off the ground and rubbing his rear in pain- with a sheepish expression. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sonic reassured him, wincing. As if being knocked on the floor by Muttski wasn’t enough for his back. He looked over at the Wisp. “I wonder what it’s doing here.”

The Wisp chirped at them, and once it was finished, Shard relayed to Sonic, “She said her name’s Yap. Apparently Eggman’s abducting the Wisps. She’s not sure what he’s been doing to them, but her colony was one of the ones recently attacked by him. She’s the only one who managed to escape. She came through this portal because she had nowhere else to go.”

Yap turned to look at Sonic, her three eyes blinking at the simultaneously. She chirped at him curiously. Shard translated, “She asked if you’re Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“Yup, that’s me alright!” Sonic gave her a thumbs up. “And you came to the right hedgehog. I eat eggs for breakfast.”

Shard looked at Sonic, deciding to ignore that last line, and said, “You should probably take her to the other Freedom Fighters, and see if you-”

The portal suddenly crackled loudly, tendrils of electrical energy shooting outward and electrocuting all three of them. Yap was the first one to drop, then Sonic, and then Shard.

_< Sys-s-stem failure imminent…>__

_Į̶̼̦͔͖̂̈͑̊͊N̵̢͈͖̯̻̰̈̽́̊͌͝T̴̻̗̗̋͝E̸͔͎̒̓̽́͜R̵͂̉̏̃̅̕ͅF̶̢̛̯̪̰͙͋̽͠Ȧ̵̡͖͕̼͍͙̃̇͘C̵̡̮̙̪͎̔E̷̛̬̰̘̪͐͋͌͠ ̴̧̨̥̭̣̣̎̓͊͂͝Ę̸̜̻̺̹͎̓̃̽͂Ŗ̴̺̖͊͗͜ͅR̷͓̯̊̈́O̵̧̫̤̦͔͗͘R̴͖̚ ̷̢̧̺̹̻̬͌̉1̷͕̫̟̫̯̲̏̐̔͘9̶̝͐͊8̵̘̽̌̑̽9̷̢̠͉̪̜͛̌_

* * *

_An unknown amount of time later…_

_< Initialising system startup sequence…>__

_< Primary systems online. Primary systems functioning at 98% efficiency. Secondary systems online. Secondary systems functioning at 78% efficiency. Running diagnostics…>__

_< High electrical voltage appears to have destabilised and damaged several systems. Rerouting Power Gem energy to repair damage.>__

_< Damage repaired. Powering up Unit # 0001…>__

“Nggghh…” Shard’s green optics flickered to life, his eyes now meeting those of a concerned Sonic and Yap. “I think that might’ve left a mark.”

Sonic shook his head, a strained smile of amusement on his face. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I got struck by lightning,” Shard answered, trying to sit up. Sonic put a hand on the mech’s back and helped push him upwards. “What happened?”

“We got struck by lightning,” Sonic quipped, though it was kind of true in a way. “That portal electrocuted us. I’m not sure what happened after that, but I guess we must’ve been pulled in. I don’t recognise this place.” Shard turned his gaze away from Sonic so he could look around. They appeared to be in a forest fairly similar to the Great Forest, but this area didn’t appear to match his database’s map. It was also now the afternoon, possibly indicating that they’d been here for at least several hours. “Yap’s been chirping to me for the past ten minutes, but I can’t speak Wisp. So I kinda have no clue what she’s saying.”

Shard nodded, and listened as Yap started to chirp to him. His pupils dilated part ways through, and once the Wisp was finished, he explained to Sonic, “Yap says she recognises this place- it’s not where she was when she first came through the portal. But she says she’s been here before a couple of times- she claims it’s the Great Forest. She also says she doesn’t know why you don’t recognise it.”

“But that’s impossible,” Sonic told him. “I know every inch of the Forest, and this place wasn’t here before at all!” While the blue hedgehog spoke, Shard slowly got onto his feet, legs wobbling dangerously. The Mobian kept a hand on the bot’s arm to keep him from falling over. Yap chirped to them again, this time more insistently. “What’s she sayin’?” Sonic asked.

“She says that if it helps, she can take us to Knothole village,” Shard answered as his legs seemed to finally stabilise. “How is that gonna help us??” the mech asked the Wisp. “Knothole was destroyed a long time ago!” Yap chirped again, this time in confusion. “Yap says she doesn’t understand. Last she saw of Knothole, it was still intact.”

“I think I’d remember seeing a Wisp floating around Knothole,” Sonic muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. “Well, we’re not gonna figure out what’s going on if we just stand here talking all day. I say we follow her. Who knows, maybe we can get some answers on what’s _really_ going on here.”

Shard nodded in agreement. As they started walking after the Wisp, he said, “You wanna make a bet?”

“What?” Sonic whipped his head over to look at the bot.

“I asked if you wanna make a bet,” Shard told him.

“On _what?”_ Sonic’s expression now turned incredulous. “Wait, why are we even discussing this right now? Are you messing with me??”

“Maybe.”

Sonic was torn between bursting out laughing and facepalming in annoyance. He settled for both. Sonic’s giggles eventually died down, and his forehead still stung a bit from having whacked it way too hard, but the smile stayed. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”

“That a trick question, True Blue? I guess sometimes… maybe a little,” Shard admitted. His smile disappeared as he continued, “I was serious about not wanting to hurt you again, Sonic. I don’t want to be your enemy- not after all we’ve been through. Being buried under dried lava for years with nothing but a magical green jewel housing your soul because the rest of you was melted away… kinda gives you a lotta time to think about stuff. Like ‘what is my purpose?’ ‘Why am I here?’ ‘Am I even real?’ ‘Can I ever really make up for the things I’ve done?’ Questions I still sometimes ask myself… even now.”

Sonic put a hand on Shard’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “You’re real to me. And I’ve done things too that I’m not proud of either. It’s just the way life is- none of us are perfect. But that’s why we learn from our mistakes, so that way we don’t make those mistakes again. And if I can learn from mine, then I know you can learn from yours.”

A small smile spread across Shard’s muzzle. “Thanks. I… I appreciate that.”

“It’s the truth,” Sonic told him, releasing the mech’s shoulder. As they continued to follow the Wisp through the woods, they remained unaware of the drone watching them from the shadows.

_< Analysing…attempting to identify individuals. Subject # 1991- Identified as Sonic the Hedgehog. Species: Mobian Hedgehog. Threat level: 15/10. Subject # 1992- Identity unknown. Species: Wisp. Threat level: 4/10. Subject # 1993- Identified as Shard, a.k.a. the original Metal Sonic. Species: Robot. Threat level: 12/10.>__

_< Target has been identified. Contacting Doctor Eggman…>__

_< Error: Unable to reach Doctor Eggman. Attempting communication again…>__

_< Error: Unable to reach Doctor Eggman. Due to unforeseen complications, this unit must proceed with Phase Two without contacting the Doctor. Will attempt communication again when it is time for Phase Three.>__

_< Initialising Phase Two Protocols…>_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehhhh, I think this chapter was just _okay_... I may wind up rewriting it after I get back home (got some travelling to do for the next couple of days, so I won't have time to write or update anything). 
> 
> Also, after rereading the Archie Sonic Online Comic "Endangered Species" (it's a fan rewrite of the original comic, which I hope never to read because reading about it on Mobius Encyclopedia and Sonic News Network is enough to make my heart break), I saw that Metal Knuckles was destroyed during a battle in said comic. This probably means one of two things- one: we won't see Krudzu in the next issue of Endangered Species arc rewrite, and given that I don't know if Shard appeared in the Endangered Species Issue that takes place before said rewrite or not, we probably won't see Shard in the next issue of the arc's rewrite. Here's my second theory: one or both of them will appear again in the next issue of the rewritten arc, and might play similar roles in the story as they did in the original- or they might have different roles, who knows at this point.
> 
> But in either case, I think I kinda want to go with the former, and say that Sonic didn't become aware of Shard's "rebirth" until sometime after the Endangered Species rewrite arc ended. Since the issue number of the first part of the Endangered Species arc on the Archie Sonic Online website seems to imply that the said arc takes place BEFORE Sally was deroboticised (if this is an inaccurate assumption, please let me know), it doesn't seem too farfetched that Sonic might have encountered Shard not long after the Endangered Species arc had concluded. So, Shard would have had to convince Sonic he wasn't a threat, and in fact an ally, in a different way than he did in the original version of the arc. 
> 
> So where am I going with this possibly nonsensical rant? Why did I want to choose the former theory instead of the latter? Plot ideas, of course! I kinda want to write what might've happened had they met under different circumstances, and- due to the fact that I don't know how far apart in time the Endangered Species arc and the Mecha Sally issues are- see if I can explain why their relationship involves more trust between them in this story than what little trust they might've had during the original version of the Endangered Species arc.
> 
> Now, I was originally going to cover these thoughts in flashbacks throughout this story, but I feel like that might slow down the plot. So I'm thinking once this particular fic is finished (which might take a while depending on how big this fic gets), I'll write a prequel fic to cover this whole mess of a theory. 
> 
> In addition, I'm thinking about reposting the short story "Program" separately from my "Another Metonic Collection" so that way I can put all the fics together into one series so they're connected. "Program" will still be included in my collection though. I'd just be posting an identical version of it separately. These fics will still also be included in the current series they're already in, I'd just be adding them to another.
> 
> However, I won't do all that until _after_ I start the prequel fic, so that way hopefully I won't have any trouble putting stuff in the right order.
> 
> Hopefully I explained everything semi-decently. If you have any questions about my plans or this story, feel free to ask in the comments. Anyways, bye now!


	3. Genesis

Shard and Sonic knelt down behind the bushes, staring in shock at the sight that was sprawled out before them. Neither of them could believe their eyes.

“No _way…”_ Sonic murmured. It was Knothole. Granted, it looked very different from what Sonic remembered. But there were also several buildings he did recognise. Buildings he knew where part of the village. “Do… do you think…?”

“We must’ve been pulled into an alternate reality,” Shard whispered, looking at the very much intact and very much populated Knothole before turning his gaze to Sonic. “That’s my thought, anyways. What’s yours?”

“Same,” Sonic answered. “The question is- _which_ reality were we even pulled into? This doesn’t look like Moebius… and it’s definitely not-”

“Hey! Who’re you?!”

Sonic, Shard, and Yap all whipped around to see… another Sonic? Well, they were in an alternate reality, after all. Or so they theorised, anyway. It wouldn’t be too surprising that this universe, wherever it was, had its own version of Sonic.

 _“Metal Sonic!?!”_ The alternate Sonic lowered himself into a crouch, ready to spring and attack.

 _“What?!_ No, no- not _again_ \- just wait a sec-!” It was too late by that point- Other Sonic (as Shard was dubbing him for the time being) had already leaped forward, curling himself into a spinning ball in midair. Just before the hedgehog could land a hit on the former badnik, however, Sonic _\- Shard’s_ Sonic, that is- intervened by rushing forward and pushing the bot to the ground with him. Other Sonic sailed through the air above them and crashed into a tree several feet away.

Meanwhile, Sonic was still sprawled on top of Shard, who was too stunned by the rapid sequence of events to do anything but stare up at his friend’s face. Sonic looked back down at him with some amusement and snarked, “Y’know, this would be the point where I get _thanked_ for saving someone.”

“I… umm…” It was really hard to think clearly about anything when the person you’re hopelessly in love with is laying on top of you and is showing no signs of moving anytime soon. Sonic lifted his gaze to look where Other Sonic had crashed. The aforementioned Mobian was already back on his feet and was watching the two of them, utterly bewildered. “Sonic…” Shard shifted a bit under Sonic’s weight. “I really think-” Yap squeaked something to him, evidently confused by the fact that there were two Sonics now. He didn’t seem to hear her. Finally, he found his voice and said, “Sonic… uhh, you can probably get off of me now…”

Sonic’s face went beet red in less than three clock cycles flat. “Uh- yeah, yeah- right- uh- heh-” The hedgehog cleared his throat awkwardly as he quickly pushed himself off his friend and back onto his feet. He offered a hand out to Shard, who- after a moment of staring at in surprise- took it and was pulled back onto his feet. At that moment, all three hedgehogs and Yap spotted this universe’s Sally Acorn rushing towards them.

A pair of bright blue energy blades were protruding from the rings on Sally’s gloves as she charged right at Shard.

“Wha- wait, _stop!!”_ Sonic put himself between Sally and Shard just as the former was about to lunge. “Wouldja all just chill for two seconds?!”

Shard meanwhile could only stare at Sonic with a dumfounded expression. Did the Mobian really just put himself between Shard and Sally to protect… _him?_ The thought both warmed and chilled the Power Gem in the robot’s chest. 

“Chill?!” Sally glared over Sonic’s shoulder at Shard. She then locked eyes with Other Sonic, who looked just as confused as she was, before looking back at… well, the previous Sonic. _“Chill?!?”_

The chipmunk seemed to be having a hard time trying to comprehend not only the fact that there were currently two Sonics in her presence, but one of them stepped in front of to a Metal Sonic. To _protect_ him. Sonic really couldn’t blame her for her reaction- he’d definitely feel the same way in her shoes. But there was no way in heck he was letting _anything_ bad happen to Shard again.

“How- what- who the _heck_ are you, and _what_ are you doing here?!” Sally finally demanded as she put her blade to Sonic’s neck. The hedgehog stepped back a bit, unintentionally bumping into Shard in the process. Other Sonic lowered himself into a crouch, no doubt ready to spin dash the newcomers if he determined them to be a threat.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Sonic muttered to Shard before returning his attention to Sally. “Uhh, first off, hello to you too, Sal. Second, I’m Sonic, this is my friend Shard, and the Wisp over there is Yap.” He gestured to each individual in question as he spoke.

Shard moved up to Sonic’s side, glaring at Sally with narrowed optics. “And by the way, watch where you swing those things. You almost chopped True Blue’s head off.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, a small smirk spreading across his lips. “Shard, that’s an exaggeration… kinda. I think.”

“It also sounded like it was gonna turn into a threat,” Other Sonic remarked, his eyes flicking between the other two hedgehogs. His gaze then landed on Yap and he relaxed a little. “Hey, Yap- haven’t seen ya in a while!”

The Wisp chirped happily back at him in greeting.

Sally scoffed, deactivating her rings’ energy blades for the moment. “Okay, so you answered the first part of my question. You still haven’t gotten to the second part- _what_ are you doing here?”

“Uhh, well- it might be better if we explained all this to the rest of the Freedom Fighters too,” Sonic told her. “Assuming this universe even has the Freedom Fighters- you do have the Freedom Fighters here, right?”

Sally was visibly startled by his query. “Well- y-yes, but-”

Other Sonic cleared his throat, drawing everyone else’s attention. “Look Sal, the sooner we get the others, the sooner we’ll know what’s going on. Which also means the sooner we can figure out what we’re gonna do about it.”

* * *

_Knothole HQ…_

“… so we’re kinda stuck here until either we can find another one of those giant portals,” Sonic said, kicking his legs a bit as he spoke. The crate he was sitting on was a little uncomfortable- to say the least- but he didn’t mind it too much. Shard was standing and leaning his back against the side of the crate, apparently keeping a watchful eye on the other Freedom Fighters. “Besides, if Eggman’s threatening the Wisps like Yap says he is, then I wanna help you guys stop him.”

“Same here,” Shard spoke up, smirking. “It’s been a while since I’ve caused some trouble for the doc.”

Other Sonic snickered. “He’d probably rip out his own moustache if he saw _you_ destroying his dumb toys.”

“Ah’m still kinda suspicious, sugah-hog,” Bunnie declared, crossing her arms and regarding the two newcomers with a cautious expression. “Ah don’t ever remember a Genesis Portal _electrocutin’_ people before.”

“Uhhh… a Genesis _what-now?”_ Sonic asked blankly, looking at her in puzzlement. He cringed when he saw the incredulous look on her face- evidently, this was something very common in this universe and the fact that he’d never heard of one until this very moment was something that clearly had never crossed her mind.

It was Tails who gave Sonic and Shard an explanation as to what the phenomenon was. “A Genesis Portal is pretty much a rip in the space-time continuum left behind by some kind of cataclysmic event hundreds- if not thousands- of years ago. These portals can connect two different universes together and allow people to freely travel between them as long as they stay open. Some can even allow not just time travel, but even travel between different multiverses. It’s possible the two of you were just pulled through a much more powerful variant of the portals.”

“Wait, there’s multiverses now?!” Sonic rubbed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. “I liked it better when I just thought that there was _one_ universe.”

“You and us both, sugah-hog,” Bunnie muttered, sighing in exhaustion. She had no idea what she was going to tell Antoine when he caught wind of this.

“Well, we might just be able to help you,” Other Sonic offered. “Silver and his science-y buddy-”

“Professor Von Schlemmer,” Tails cut in.

“Uh, yeah- right. That guy.” Other Sonic paused for a second and then went on, “Anyways, they’ve got more experience with this kinda thing. It’s possible that, if I can get ahold of Silver, they might be able to help you guys find a way back to your own universe.”

“Great to hear!” Sonic hopped off the crate and continued, “But first thing’s first, we still need to deal with Egghead and whatever he’s planning for the Wisps.”

“This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Wisps going missing,” Sally said. “But we had no idea until now that Eggman was involved. And we still don’t know what he’s planning to do with them.”

“I think I might know a place where we can find out, though,” Other Sonic added, looking over at the chipmunk. “The Chaotix said they found what seems to be a secret base of Eggman’s- it’s somewhere in Mystic Jungle. I’ll bet if Eggman’s hiding a base _there_ of all places, then there’s gotta be information about what he’s doing with the Wisps.”

Sally scratched her ear for a moment and then nodded. “Alright. Sonic, and- uhhh… _other_ Sonic, Shard, and Bunnie. You’ll go to Mystic Jungle with Nicole and break into that base. See if you can find anything that might tell us what’s going on. And please be discreet- we don’t want Eggman to find out we know he’s up to something. That’ll just make things harder in the long run.”

Shard looked at Sonic, then at Other Sonic, and then back at Sonic again. “With two Sonics on the team, that might be a bit… hard.”

Sonic crossed his arms, smiling at the former badnik. “What, you saying I can’t stay outta trouble?”

“Well unlike _you_ , I know when not to jeopardise the mission,” Shard snarked back.

“Says the bot who decided to save my life from an interdimensional time-eating monster,” Sonic retorted, “instead of completing whatever _mission_ he was _supposed_ to be doing.”

“I- that- _shut up!”_

Sonic’s smirk grew wider, and then he turned to the other Sonic. “So, Other Me- when do we leave?”

“…” Other Sonic stared at him blankly. “Okay, we’re gonna have to do something about our names, because there’s no way in Chaos I’m answering to _that_ forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely happy with this chapter... it could use more work, I think. But if I just kept fussing over it, it was never going to get posted, so here you go. If anyone can think of anything that can improve this chapter, please let me know.


End file.
